1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a water feeding device of a hot drink maker, particularly of a coffeemaker, wherein a water feeding operation and a water heating time are controlled by a water temperature sensor, a computer circuit board, and a motor, all of which are installed in the hot drink maker. The motor is driven according to a sensing result obtained by sensing water temperature at a predetermined position, so as to push heated water smoothly and completely into an inlet of a brewing chamber. Consequently, ground coffee in the brewing chamber is infused by the liquid-state heated water of a predetermined temperature to make a hot drink with a desirable taste.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, heating devices for making various hot drinks are available in a variety of configurations. For example, a conventional hot drink maker 90 for infusing ground coffee is shown in FIG. 1. The hot drink maker 90 is provided with a water tank 10 for holding tap water. A water pipe 20 extending from a bottom of the water tank 10 is coupled to a cylindrical inner receptacle 40 wound exteriorly with an electric heating tube 50. In addition, a flow meter 30 for controlling the amount of water required each time for making a desired hot drink is installed at the water pipe 20 between the water tank 10 and the cylindrical inner receptacle 40. The cylindrical inner receptacle 40 has a water outlet end coupled via another water pipe 20 to a showerhead-type water outlet 201 above an inlet of a brewing chamber 70. The latter water pipe 20 has an end located adjacent to the showerhead-type water outlet 201 and provided with a gate 60 for allowing or blocking passage of hot boiled water. Besides, a container 80 is placed below the brewing chamber 70 for receiving brewed coffee therefrom. Thus, in order to infuse ground coffee, the required amount of water is introduced from the water tank 10 through the flow meter 30 into the cylindrical inner receptacle 40 so as to be heated to a boil by the electric heating tube 50 wound exteriorly around the cylindrical inner receptacle 40. Then, vapor from the boiling water passes through the opened gate 60 and comes out from the showerhead-type water outlet 201, thereby infusing the ground coffee in the brewing chamber 70.
However, the aforementioned hot drink maker has the following drawbacks when used to infuse ground coffee:
1. The water in the cylindrical inner receptacle is heated by the electric heating tube wound therearound so that it difficult to boil and evaporate all the water, and in consequence some of the water tends to remain in the inner receptacle. Besides, the vapor rising from the boiling water may condense into water drops and be blocked by the gate.
2. Since the ground coffee in the brewing chamber is infused by the vapor of the boiling water in the cylindrical inner receptacle, the typical flavor of coffee is easily damaged by the overly high temperature of the vapor so that the resultant coffee tastes less than desired.